Sugar policy won't change as part of Farm Bill as House rejects amendment

Eve Samples, Treasure Coast Newspapers opinion and engagement editor asks Bubba Wade, U.S. Sugar senior vice president for corporate strategy and business development, if U.S. Sugar will consider selling land south of Lake Okeechobee to the state of Florida

“After decades of brutal water issues, the status quo must change," Mast said in a news release. "That’s why today I voted in favor of securing the environmental future of our community.”

Another proposal to change U.S. sugar policy, called the Zero-to-Zero plan, also died because it never was filed as a Farm Bill amendment. It would have eliminated price supports, but banned imports from countries that have them, such as Brazil and Mexico.

The House is scheduled to vote on the Farm Bill on Friday. The Senate is expected to debate its own version of the Farm Bill later this summer.

Representatives from sugar-producing states — including Texas, Louisiana and Minnesota — rallied to stop the change. No one from Florida's sugar-producing areas spoke against the amendment.

"We should be supporting American farmers instead of sending their jobs to countries that heavily subsidize sugar production like Brazil and Mexico," Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minnesota, said while lawmakers debated the amendment.

America's farmers can't compete on an even playing field when foreign countries break the rules and dump highly-subsidized products into the world market. We wouldn't allow steel to be dumped into our market, why would we allow sugar? #DefendSugarFarmers#2018FarmBillpic.twitter.com/PGALXB9X0Q

Sugar policy opponents

The amendment would have been the first major overhaul of the program since it was created during the Great Depression.

The Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy, which formed to support reform, launched a massive campaign to persuade Congress to support the amendment, lobbying through meetings, social media and even free ice cream.